Birth of a Phoenix
by Magos186
Summary: It's been months since Edward left her. Days since Jake abandoned her. She knows now the only man she can truly count on is her father. But even he can't stay with her forever. What would happen to Bella if she lost Charlie as well? NM AU-character death. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Twilight is property of SM. I just like to play with the characters.

A/N: Story notes: Bella & Charlie are extremely close in this story. Check out the alternate scene from New Moon where they talk when she wakes up from a nightmare. They so should not have cut this scene down.  
>www. youtube watch?v=ruavHPbhO4I remove the spaces and go to 1:40.<p>

Wolves: In this story, Victoria is dead. She was killed just after Quil phased. The wolf pack consists of Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry, Jake, & Quil.

A/N: Warning: There is a character death in this chapter. You may need some tissues. You have been warned.

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Bella sat in an unyielding, plastic yellow chair, holding onto her father's hand. Somehow she still had tears left, she vaguely noticed. She had been crying for hours…ever since she got the call telling her that her father had been shot during a bank robbery. For some reason his vest didn't work and the two bullets entered his chest, one grazing his lung. The doctors had him in surgery for hours trying to repair all the damage. He was moved into the ICU a short time ago, the surgeon telling her that they had done what they could for now, but that it was too dangerous to continue the surgery. He needed to stabilize before they could continue.

It was too much for Bella to handle. She wasn't strong enough to survive this. First she'd lost Edward, then she'd lost Jake and now...now she was going to lose her father. He was the one man, the only man she could ever count on. He was always there for her, even when she didn't want him to be. And now he was lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life. They say bad things always happen in threes.

"Bells," a voice called softly. Bella raised her head to find her father lying there watching her, a sad smile on his face. Where were all the wires? The breathing tube?

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Bella murmured.

"Yes and no," Charlie replied as he sat up. The hospital gown was gone now too. Instead he was dressed in his Forks P.D. tee shirt and jeans.

"You're going to leave me," Bella said as tears ran down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry baby. I don't want to go. Not now—not when you still need me."

"I'm sorry for how I've been acting. I know you've been worried. I'm sorry I've been such a bad daughter."

"Bells, you couldn't be a bad daughter if you tried," he said as he took her hands in his. "You're heartbroken. I've been there remember? Everyone deals with that in their own way. And you've been getting better. You're starting to heal. You're stronger than you know baby."

"But I'm not strong," she protested. "I won't survive this. I can't lose you. Please don't leave me daddy," she begged as she wrapped her arms tight around him. "I love you. I need you."

"I'm sorry baby, but I have to go," Charlie said sadly as his tears began to fall. "I love you more than anything in this world and I've been proud of you every day of your life. I will always be with you baby." He placed one last, soft kiss on his daughter's forehead before he faded away.

Bella awoke with a start, her hand still gripping Charlie's hand as the beeping in the room stopped, replaced by a long, steady note. In a flash there were doctors and nurses rushing in and pulling her away from her father.

"Start compressions…No pulse…atropine…rhythm...clear…"

Random words floated around Bella's head, but she didn't process any of it. She watched in horror as the staff tried desperately to start her father's heart. "Do something!" She shouted. "Help him!"

She quickly turned her head when she saw them place the paddles on her father's chest. That meant his heart was beating again. She heard the faint beep…beep…beep before it faded back to that single, steady note.

"Damnit! Begin CPR again."

It was a lifetime and an instant before the commotion in the room stopped. "That's it," one of the doctors said. "I'm calling it. Time of death: 12:45am.

"No! NO! DADDY!" Bella screamed as she broke away from the orderly holding her. She flung herself across the bed, wrapping her arms around her father, burying her face in his chest. The lack of a heartbeat was deafening in the silent room. The heartbeat she often fell asleep to as a child…the heart her dad always said beat for her…it was gone now. Her dad was gone. She'd never hug him again, never eat pizza and watch the Mariners with him again, never make him dinner again, never see his eyes sparkle as he laughed again. He'd never be there to watch over her as she slept, take care of her when she was sick. She'd never feel his safe, warm, loving arms wrap around her and protect her from everything ever again. She was all alone now. Her daddy was gone.

The hospital staff quietly left the room, leaving the poor girl to her grief. They didn't venture far from the door though, each silently crying as they listened to the heart-wrenching sobs. Every one of them knew Charlie Swan. He was a great man. The entire town would mourn his loss for a long time to come.

The eldest of the group headed down to the waiting room to deliver the bad news. Nearly all of the Forks P.D. sat in the room, waiting to hear anything about their beloved chief. The last word they'd been given was that he was in critical condition.

"Dr. Gerandy, how is he?" Carl, the deputy chief asked. He was the first to notice the man standing in the doorway. Soon enough, all eyes in the room were on the doc and his tear stained face.

"I'm sorry boys. He didn't make it," Dr. Gerandy choked out before he hurried away. This was hard enough for him without having to witness anyone else's grief. He'd known Charlie all his life. He'd delivered him, delivered his daughter. Charlie was family. He allowed himself only a few minutes to cry though. Soon enough, he'd have to make a call and deliver the horrible news to one more person. He was worried about how his call would be received though. This person hadn't set foot in Forks for years. The last time was when Charlie's folks passed away. The return was sure to shock some people. One thing the doc knew for sure was that nothing would ever be the same again.

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A/N: Put down the Kleenex and let me know what you think. Should I continue? Should I stop and delete this? What do you think? Also, there's a poll on my profile. Vote for who you want Bella to be paired with.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Look to my profile for the outfit and room photos for this story.

A/N 2: Italicized parts are flashbacks. The wolf pack in this story consists of Sam, Paul, Jared, Jake, Embry and Quil. No Clearwaters.

A/N 3: Relevant Ages: Charlie was 17 when they had Bella, Renee was 21. Billy and Harry were 22 and 23 respectively when Charlie met them. Leah was 2. When this story takes place, Charlie is 35, Bella is 18, Billy is 44, Harry is 45, and Leah is 24.

Bella sat at the vanity in her bathroom, staring into the mirror, a brush held loosely in her hand. She wasn't staring at her lost eyes or the broken expression on her face. No, it was the piece of jewelry around her neck that drew her attention. It was a sterling silver, heart shaped sapphire necklace. Her dad had given it to her this past Valentine's Day. When he gave it to her, he told her that he was so proud of the progress she'd been making in therapy and that as long as she wore it, she'd always have a piece of him with her. It was a perfect match to the sterling silver gemstone bracelet, with oval shaped sapphires, diamonds, and silver hearts he'd given her for her sixteenth birthday; a bracelet which currently resided on her left wrist. Both Charlie and Bella had started therapy in December, just four months ago. Neither one of them had wanted to go, or ever thought of going, but after November 27th, neither of them really had a choice.

_The snow stuck to the ground, getting a few centimeters deeper every hour. It was a joyous time for most people. It signaled that Christmas was getting closer, just thirteen short days away. Everyone was out shopping for presents, putting up decorations, planning parties. It was a joyous time for everyone, but the Swans._

_Fifteen long days ago, Bella had fainted as she was walking up the stairs. Fortunately, Charlie had been walking up behind her and was able to catch her before she fell. When she didn't wake up after a few minutes, he picked up her nearly weightless body, put her in the back seat of his car, and drove to the hospital. He knew how little she'd been eating, how little she'd been sleeping and he knew there was only so much the body could take before it shut down. Thanks to the incredible skill and effort of the Forks Hospital staff, that didn't happen. Dr. Gerandy said it was close though. If Bella had gone just a few more days as she was, her organs would have begun to shut down. _

_So there were the Swans, both living in the same hospital room. Bella lay in her bed unconscious, hooked up to an I.V., a feeding tube, and all manner of monitors. Charlie stayed with her all day, every day. He took a leave of absence from work, promoting his deputy to interim chief. He slept in the spare bed in Bella's room, showered in the en-suite bathroom, and ate the meals Leah Clearwater brought him twice a day. Leah was an unexpected surprise, but one that he welcomed. _

_Charlie was just thirteen years old when he met the Clearwater family for the first time, the Blacks too. He was attending a party at the public beach on the Quileute Reservation, but soon got bored and went for a walk. He walked so far he could no longer hear the party noise. He thought he was alone out there watching the sunset, until he noticed a little girl quickly toddling toward the ocean. Without even thinking, he ran over and lifted her into his arms before she could reach the water. "Hey Little One, you don't want to go in there."_

"_Pewwy," She replied softly with a smile, pointing her finger at the ocean._

"_I know it's pretty, but you can't go in by yourself. You could get hurt." He looked up and down the stretch of beach they were on, but he didn't see anyone. "Where are your mom and dad huh?"_

_He'd no sooner spoke the words when he heard several voices shouting, "Leah!"_

"_Are you Leah?" He asked the girl, who had laid her head on his shoulder and began sucking her thumb. When he felt her little head nod, he began walking in the direction of the voices. "Over here," he called loudly. A woman came rushing through the trees, running to him as fast as she could. She was quickly followed by two men and another woman, holding two little girls in her arms. _

"_Leah!" The woman shouted as she reached them, quickly pulling the little girl into her arms. She began to kiss her all over as tears streaked down her face. _

"_Mama," Leah replied with a smile and a giggle. _

"_Bad, Leah! You always stay with Mama or Daddy. You never go off alone," "Mama" scolded before hugging her daughter tightly._

"_She was walking towards the water when I saw her. I grabbed her before she could reach it," Charlie explained._

"_Thank the spirits you were there," one of the men said as he finally caught up to them. "I'm Harry Clearwater. This is my wife Sue and our daughter Leah."_

"_I'm Billy Black," the other man said. "This is my wife Sarah and our girls Rachel and Rebecca."_

"_It's nice to meet you all. I'm Charlie Swan."_

"_I owe you a great debt Charlie Swan," Harry said seriously. "You saved my daughter's life. If you ever need anything, do not hesitate to ask me." That was the beginning of their friendship._

_Leah had followed in her mother's footsteps after high school and gone to nursing school. She had planned to work at the clinic on the reservation, until the mess with Sam Uley happened. Charlie despised Sam for what he did to Leah, the girl who he'd known practically all her life, the girl he'd babysat when she was younger, the girl who was like a little sister to him. He despised Sam for hurting her so badly, breaking her beautiful spirit, but at the same time, he'd always be grateful to Sam for finding Bella that night in the woods._

_Leah had been working at the Forks hospital for a few months now. She had moved off the reservation and into the town, into a small apartment only a ten minute walk from the hospital. She couldn't stay on the reservation where _he_ was. She couldn't stand how the elders all treated him like a prince, even after he'd hooked up with her cousin, especially her father. Harry was always quick to defend Sam, like he had done absolutely nothing wrong. One day she got into such a huge fight with her father over that bastard she could feel herself shaking with rage. That was the night Leah decided to move. She packed up her belongings and was gone by midnight. She spent a few nights on Charlie's sofa before he helped her find her apartment. She hadn't spoken to her father since. Even though her mother had nothing to do with it, she rarely spoke to her either. The only one she kept in constant contact with was her little brother Seth._

"_How's our girl doing today?" Leah asked softly as she walked into Bella's room, pulling Charlie from his thoughts._

"_The same she's been every day. I just don't understand this Lee. How could his leaving do this to her?"_

"_It wasn't just him though. The whole family left her. Unless she wakes up and tells us, we may never know what they did to her to get this kind of reaction. I'm sorry." _

"_Yeah, me too kid. How are you doing? Still not talking to your folks?"_

"_No. I'm not even mad at mom, but I know if I talk to her, she'll just try to convince me to talk to dad and we'll wind up fighting. I'm just tired of it. _Jackass_ is the one who left me for another woman and the way they've been treating me, it's like he's their family not me. If he's helping out the tribe or the elders, that's great. I really don't care, but don't sit there and extoll his virtues at me when he's the one who left me a month before our wedding."_

_Charlie walked over to Leah and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry Little One. You know if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I love you Lee."_

"_Thanks big brother. I love you too." _

_A throat clearing startled them both and they turned to the door. "Sorry to interrupt," Dr. Gerandy said. "Charlie, can I talk to you in my office?"_

"_Go ahead," Leah said. "I'll give Bella her bath while you're gone."_

_It wasn't until Christmas Eve that Bella finally woke up. Her body had recovered well while she was in the hospital and thanks to everything the docs were giving her she managed to gain fifteen pounds. She needed a special diet after that to get her back up to a healthy 130 pounds. Leah came over whenever she wasn't working to help out. Charlie wasn't due back to work until the end of January so he spent his days with his daughter. They spent every morning working out to help Bella build back up her muscle mass as the depression, coma, and anorexia had made her quite weak. A few afternoons a week they spent in the kitchen, Bella trying to teach her father how to cook and bake. On the days they weren't cooking, they went out to do different things like whale watching, mini-golfing, antiquing in Port Angeles. They both enjoyed spending so much time together. It helped them grow closer and had the added bonus of being a good distraction. _

_Another good distraction was finishing up the attic. Charlie had raised the roof not long after Renee left him. He had needed a project to do, something to keep him from drinking himself into a coma over the loss of his little girl. So he raised the roof on the attic and began turning the giant space into a master bedroom suite. The drywall, ceiling and wainscoting was all taken care of, the hardwood flooring was installed for both the bedroom and walk-in closet. It all just needed to be cleaned, get a fresh coat of paint and some furniture. He had even had most of the master bathroom complete. His father had been a plumber and until he joined the police force when he was 21, he worked with him. Together the two of them extended the lines from the second floor bathroom up to the attic and built the bathroom. Like the bedroom, that also needed to be cleaned, a fresh coat of paint, and to have the actual bath and shower installed. His plan was to get it all finished and cleaned up no later than mid-January and present it to Bella. She needed to get out of her bedroom, away from the memories. She'd spent too much time in there with _him_ that everywhere she looked she was reminded of him. She needed a change. _

_Once he was done presenting Bella with her new rooms, he planned to completely remodel the kitchen. It was moderately sized, but the set up was fairly old fashioned and there just wasn't enough room for Bella whenever she cooked or baked. She would always have to use the kitchen table as well as all the available counter space. He was going to fix that. The last time anyone had done anything in the kitchen it was Renee painting the cabinets yellow. It was time to get rid of that. Both Swans needed to cleanse their souls of the hurt they'd suffered and it was going to start with their house, followed by some therapy._

"Bella?" A voice called softly, breaking her from her thoughts. She turned around to find Leah Clearwater standing in the doorway. Leah was dressed in a white and black wrap dress, with a black cardigan and black ankle boots. Her long hair was pulled back into a simple braid that hung over her left shoulder. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying. Charlie was family to her too. The big brother she'd always wanted. "Hey. You didn't answer when I rang the bell so I let myself in. I hope you don't mind."

"It's fine," Bella said softly, her voice weak from all the sobbing she'd been doing the past three days. Three days since she lost the only man in the world she could count on. In those three days, she'd been holed-up in her house, curled up in Charlie's leather recliner. She didn't answer the door when someone knocked, she didn't answer the phone when it rang. The only person she spoke to was the mayor. He was taking care of all the arrangements for her. Since Charlie died on the job, he was getting the whole shebang…flag over the coffin, 21 gun salute, the works. A repast was being planned as well. It would take place in the parking lot of Forks High, the only lot big enough to accommodate the entire town and anyone else who planned to come. Chairs and tables were going to be set up under several large, white, connected tents.

"Bella," Leah said, again pulling her from her thoughts. "My dad is downstairs. He'd like to speak to you, if that's okay."

"I'll be right there," Bella mumbled as she headed to the closet to find her flat, black ballet pumps. Leah nodded her head and went back downstairs. Bella was already dressed in the black satin, knee length dress Leah had gotten her. There was a black, long sleeve cable cardigan draped over the couch to go with it. Fortunately it was warm enough that a heavier jacket wouldn't be needed. The sky was cloudy, though there was no rain predicted. Umbrellas were going to be brought just the same.

Bella finished putting on her shoes and headed downstairs, where she found Harry Clearwater standing in the living room, looking at the pictures on the fireplace mantel. "Harry?" She called softly. He slowly turned around to face her.

"How are you doing sweetheart?" He asked as he moved to hug her. They held onto each other for a minute before separating.

"I've been better. I'm kind of numb at this point. How are you?"

"I've been a little drunk the past few days. This is one tragedy I don't expect to ever get over. You know that if you need anything, all you have to do is call. I don't care if it's two in the morning and you can't sleep or if it's midnight and you just want a hug. Anything at all, you just need to ask alright?"

"I know. Thank you. "

"Of course. Sue's been cooking nonstop since we found out. Seems she doesn't know what else to do with herself. This hit everyone hard. You Swans are a part of my family. Charlie was family to a lot of us down on the reservation. Speaking of…Bella, I know this day is going to be hard for you and I don't want to make it harder, but I need to ask you something. I did come mainly to check on you, but also as an elder of the tribe. Normally this would be Billy's job since he's the Chief, but seeing how things went with you and… I would like to formally request permission for the Blacks to attend the funeral, Jake's friends as well."

"You mean your lying, two timing, steroid abusing, hall monitors? Regardless of what happened with Jake, I know how much my dad loved him and Billy. Of course they can come. Just do me a favor and keep him and the rest of his group of losers far away from me. I do not want to speak to any of them and if they make a scene today I will take a gun and shoot them."

_Damn! _Harry thought. _I knew it was going to be hard on her when Jake phased, but I didn't think she'd be this angry. _"Sure sweetheart," he replied, a sad smile on his face. He wanted to say so much more to her. He wanted to explain why things happened the way they did. He wanted to explain that Jake didn't choose to leave her, but he couldn't tell the secret. Even if Bella knew about the vampires, he wouldn't be the one to spell out the existence of the wolves to her too.

"I'll go let the boys know then and I'll see you at the service. Just remember what I said Bella. You call if you need anything."

With one last hug Harry was out the door, leaving the last Swan standing alone. Leah came up quietly and wrapped her arms around Bella from behind. "I'm proud of you Bell. I don't know how you still have so much strength inside you. You do know that I'm always going to be here for you though little one, right?"

"Please don't make me that promise. Everyone I've ever loved has promised me that and none of them have kept it, whether by their own choice or not. If one more person makes me that promise and breaks it, I won't survive."

A/N: So what do you think? Good, bad, better than the previous version? Leave me a review to let me know.


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